02 April 2013

So in the insanity of my current life one of my very close college friends, Megan asked me to do her engagement photos. Although I don't do a lot of professional photos anymore because of the crazy amount of travel I have to do for my 9-5 job... I couldn't say no to Megan. Which, after doing the photos, I was glad she kept on me, because I remembered how much I enjoy taking photos!

This is Megan and Josh-

I originally met Megan when I was in University when we worked at Victoria's Secret together.
Josh, who is from Galveston, had also attended the same University, but didn't meet Megan until after we graduated. This photo session was the first time I had met Josh, so this was my way of getting to know him.

We decided to take their engagement photos where the wedding would be held, on Galveston Island.

Josh Proposed to Megan on the Galveston Beach.
Since this was the case, Megan wanted to make sure to capture a few photos on the sand.
However, once we got there the elements were a little against us.
The wind, the grey skies, but then the rising sun were both two factors that were not helping take photos. Still a few good ones came out.

Although I couldn't find a place where the lighting wasn't too harsh, I decided to embrace the shadows and make this into an artistic pose.

What was interesting for me to work on this photo session was seeing my friend act ... well differently than I was used to seeing her. Some of the poses were a little awkward... and I was feeling the photos would show it. Example, the below photo took over 60 shots.

Instead, I wanted to be able to see Megan's amazing personality come through... So, I asked Megan to do something spontaneous with Josh to get them to relax. As a result, one of my favourite shots came out of it:

Once we had some fun with it, Megan decided she would rather have a casual photo session and changed. I am convinced that was what made the entire difference, the energy completely changed and the bubbly, full personality that is Megan came out (which is such a joy to capture).

Here are a few of my favourites from going to Downtown Galveston, but if you want to see the rest of the fun photos, visit my flickr set for Megan and Josh.

I love Megan's huge smile... it's infectious

As an Aggie, I love that we can see both rings here.

Josh is a quiet type of a guy who's just not as expressive, so I LOVED that I was able to get the tender expression here.

So, thank you Megan for getting me back into taking photos briefly and I am psyched to see you get married!

12 February 2013

One of my initiatives is to try and find things that I like about Dallas-- and to get out with my camera more often.

Although my travel schedule for 2012 was -- insanity, I'm optimistic that 2013 will bring a certain amount of calmness that will give me some time to focus on this.

A friend of mine invited me to explore a part of the Lakewood area in Dallas.
I really like this part of Dallas and plan on spending more time taking photos. Although I am sure that I won't fit into Dallas as seamlessly as I did in Minnesota, I'm finding the more that I look for things that I like... the more I find them.

Because we would be exploring I didn't bring my large SLR and instead relied on my iPhone + the LifeProof case I bought to keep it waterproof. I was pleasantly surprised how well the photos + the in-camera editing filters worked.

This neighbourhood is one of Dallas' "Historic" districts. Situated between downtown and White Rock Lake, it really has a lot of 1920-30's charm. Running through this neighbourhood is a rail line. It was the rail line that I'm not completely sure if it was active or not (we were on the bridge for over two hours and didn't see anything) was what we spent the afternoon exploring.

The curve around the Lake.

It was quiet and peaceful walking up to the bridge.

I am always amazed how winter and summer look exactly the same in Texas. The trees are usually without leaves no matter. However, it was an amazing day for walking around.

Crossing the bridge. I suddenly got squemish and put my phone away. Last thing I wanted to do was to drop my phone through the slats into the creek bed below.

So now I need to find out more information about this particular rail line.
It's speculated that this is the "Kansas City Rail" that goes through Dallas or it could be inactive.
No matter, I really enjoyed getting to be a tourist in the town I live in and am looking forward to other places to can go to explore.

12 December 2012

Since taking this new full time job I've been racked with guilt for missing taking photos.
However, because of this job I've been able to travel to places that I have never been... without having to pay for it (always good).

One of these places is Niagara Falls.
Here are a few of the photos that I took while I was there.

The Canadian Side of the WaterFall. The Corner is a power station that I got to tour (but no photos).

I have about ninety photos of the waterfall, but after going through all of them... I only posted one. The sheer volume of water was hypnotizing which I ended up taking photos almost on autopilot. This gave me a lot of photos to work with, but wouldn't be THAT interesting as a post.

One of the best photos I felt was when a Seagull landed on the platform RIGHT in front of me.

Because I had to make it to the airport in time to leave, I couldn't stay for sun-set (which I am sure that Niagara would have been breathtaking). However, as I walked away the water vapor and the sky... a rainbow appeared. Minor tweaking in the RAW import + my favourite Florabella Action wash (Cashmere) gave me my favourite photo of the trip.

08 August 2012

I have to admit the great lag in posting photos has been largely due to my own laziness.
I started to travel so much more.
I hate having to prepare for a trip by packing.
I stopped packing my camera.
and then... stopped taking photos... because I had built up a mental block that somehow not having all of the correct equipment-- made my photography less legitimate.

But, this past weekend... I may have had a slight break in that block.

I went to California for the weekend to spend time with Kenneth.
He's moving to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (I cannot say that town's name to save my life). It was a wonderful road trip weekend... where I got to see most of the diversity of environment that California offers!

On our way down to San Luis Obispo-- we stopped at an abandoned gas station.

The sign with the beautiful California background

Kenneth had a friend that was into urban exploring on the East Coast and wanted to stop and see the gas station. Naturally I am always wanting to try something new-- enthusiastically agreed to stop.

After all, it didn't look like either terrible haunts or serial killers were hunkered down in there and ... I had a strong... perhaps slower running companion with me during broad day light :-)

Me and Kenneth. Alive and well after our exploring bout.

Although I didn't take as many photos as I normally would have with my SLR... the trip was interesting for me. I didn't have to have my SLR to be able to have my "photographer" glasses on-- and I was able to still see photos with just my iPhone.

Beautiful wrought iron bench outside where birds had made their nest

So, perhaps a new leaf...

and maybe a little paradigm shift for me when it comes to taking photos.

Meet the Photographer

My photography style is constantly being defined. I'm hands on, in the dirt, climbing; there trying to make sure I get those moments that will be treasured. I'm not afraid to try anything new or different. What I strive for is to get the shot that your memory holds onto.

Photography (n): It's not what you look at that matters-- it's what you see.